Haha while that is very true, I was more or less just expressing how glad I am that Rivers has commanded control of the team. Duke lacked that leadership role -- in terms of vocal direction on the floor -- earlier in the year and it's a very positive sign that he has defined himself as that go-to guy.

BC is young and inexperienced, though, there's no doubt about that. If Kentucky had played there tonight, it would have been a crime scene.

ccrunner609 wrote:This is nice to see because they have surely played down to their competition quite a few times this year

Exactly. And, as poor as BC is, they did just beat Florida State, who has already beaten UNC (so badly, in fact, that Roy literally made a break for it) and Duke and is currently in a three-way tie for first place in the ACC. A 25-point win tonight in Chestnut Hill was refreshing to see for the Blue Devils.

I was never worried about the outcome of this game. However, I was a little upset that BC didn't score a FG for over 12 mins in the first half and yet Duke couldn't pull away. That should have been a 20 point game at half.

Duke defense starting to creep back into relevancy. If this trend continues I'll feel more confident come march. Given how well this team has played on the road I hope they go to the south or west for NCAA.

I think, at least right now anyway, it's probably a foregone conclusion that if the fourth No. 1 comes from the ACC, that team is going out west. Syracuse has already wrapped up the east, Kentucky the south and it is becoming more and more inevitable that Kansas or Mizzou will be playing for a spot in New Orleans via St. Louis.

Go State.

Devils take on the Noles tonight in Tallahassee. Strangely I think they have a better shot at winning tonight than they did in Cameron.

I'm anxious for tonight. I hope the Blue Devils can come out and take control right away. If Curry and Rivers get going early that is good news for Duke. I think a key tonight will be Andre Dawkins though, if he can come off the bench knocking down jump shots that will be a huge boost.

The Plumlees took a combined 9 shots against FSU at home, and Duke shot a lower percentage from the floor than FSU. Those factors will not be repeated tonight. Granted Duke outrebounded FSU in the first meeting, and I don't anticipate that occurring again.

Tough win for Duke tonight in Tallahassee.

Andre Dawkins decided this game almost single-handedly in the first half, hitting 5-of-6 three-pointers and scoring 18 points. As I keep saying, I don't think there is a more explosive shooter in the country when the kid is on. He's streaky, sure, but he is a machine when the streak is in his favor. He had a game against Wake earlier this year in which he scored 23 points in the first half on seven three-point makes in about a span of nine minutes. Dawkins can bring it in bunches.

Duke hit over 13 threes for the third time this season. Coach K's teams are just pretty when the shots are raining.

Proud Duke fan tonight. That was a gutty win. While S&L is on the random thread saying how much FSU sucks, I was taking note of the offensive efficiency of the Devils tonight against the nations 5th best defense and best defense against 2 pt field goals (per kenpom).

This team really took it personal when they lost to Miami and the win at Carolina galvanized them it seems. My feelings of how this team will fare come march have taken a 180 over the last three weeks. The defense has improved from somewhere in the 90's nationally to 47th entering tonight. With the effort tonight it will probably move to the mid 30's.

They will probably lose once more in the regular season (Carolina at home) but the way this team has regrouped and come together is endearing.

swamisez;1094296 wrote:Proud Duke fan tonight. That was a gutty win. While S&L is on the random thread saying how much FSU sucks, I was taking note of the offensive efficiency of the Devils tonight against the nations 5th best defense and best defense against 2 pt field goals (per kenpom).

This team really took it personal when they lost to Miami and the win at Carolina galvanized them it seems. My feelings of how this team will fare come march have taken a 180 over the last three weeks. The defense has improved from somewhere in the 90's nationally to 47th entering tonight. With the effort tonight it will probably move to the mid 30's.

They will probably lose once more in the regular season (Carolina at home) but the way this team has regrouped and come together is endearing.

Lol FSU was terrible tonight..they couldn't hit a clutch 3 to save their lives.

Wasn't meant to belittle Duke, relax

FSU hasn't been a good offensive team.....well since Bob Sura. However, they don't try to be. They win games with defense and offensive rebounding. Tyler Thornton neutralized Dulkys and Duke hedged the high screen on Snaer and forced him to drive. He still managed 8-18 from field, but just 2-6 from three.

FSU didn't play outstandingly at Duke, it was just Duke played that poorly. Against UNC, the Noles shot the lights out. They have but one game this year where they shot the 3 ball well. In conference they shoot right around 30% from long range. The 25% they shot tonight wasn't that far removed from the norm.

Tired legs for the Blue Devils so far. Good thing VaTech couldn't throw it in the ocean.

Someone is going to have to step up down the stretch. Tyler Thornton is playing well so far, shutting down Green and throwing in a few threes. My guess is Seth Curry will come out firing in the second half and will push the tempo, which has been incredibly slow so far.

Devils are completely gassed. Gonna need a couple big shots and to get to the free throw line. Va tech may have just enough to get the w.

Overtime. No idea who will win this one. Plumlees have been absent, Kelly has fouled out, and erick green is wearing curry. Rivers? Thornton? Dawkins is scoreless maybe there is some gas left in his tank.

70-65 Duke

Another Houdini act in Durham, escaping just in time. Puzzling play all season in Cameron this year for the Devils, but a win is a win is a win. Wake on Tuesday.

No puzzle. duke lives by the 3 ball. If they make them they look great. If they don't, they struggle.The only difference between them and a team like Michigan is that the devils get to free throw line and the Wolverines don't.Witness today;s games. duke was 6/24 behind the arc and 24/34 at the free throw line. Michigan was 9/32 behind the arc and 2/4 at the free throw line.

Duke is 7-0 on the road in the ACC this season, and just 5-2 at home. The Blue Devils' uninspiring play in Cameron has gone beyond just poor shooting. As somebody who watches Duke religiously, it's my viewpoint that Duke has played with much more mental toughness and with a greater will to win while on the road. I think this might be partly because, for a majority of the year, Duke was playing with a 40-some game winning streak in Cameron and coming out victorious there had become an entitlement. Of course there are going to be close games at home from time to time, but, Duke, in my opinion, has let down its guard at home and taken the building for granted.

By the way, in Duke's two losses at home, the Blue Devils made a combined 19 three-pointers. That is an average of 9.5 per game, which would rank third in the country out of 344. Duke makes 8.4 threes per game on the season. So the Blue Devils were above their average in both losses.

By the way, in Duke's two losses at home, the Blue Devils made a combined 19 three-pointers. That is an average of 9.5 per game

They played well against FSU, they just lost to a good team it happens. Against Miami they were 9/31and they lost. They had to come back from 20 down to defeat a mediocre N.C.State team because they were 8/29. They were 5/20 against UVA won by 3. Against OSU they were 3/15 and they lost. duke is duke . They live by the 3 and their ability to get to the free throw line. It is that simple

Prescott;1096158 wrote:They played well against FSU, they just lost to a good team it happens. Against Miami they were 9/31and they lost. They had to come back from 20 down to defeat a mediocre N.C.State team because they were 8/29. They were 5/20 against UVA won by 3. Against OSU they were 3/15 and they lost. duke is duke . They live by the 3 and their ability to get to the free throw line. It is that simple

I think that is quite an over simplification of the offensive philosophy Duke implores, but to the Duke-denigrator I suppose it makes sense.

Also, if you watched FSU Miami and Ohio State losses you could see it wasn't due to Duke not shooting the three well enough, it was more about an inability to get defensive stops. Reggie Johnson abused Duke down the stretch, as did Bernard James. The Ohio State game was more of a case where every player on the floor for OSU had a lights out performance and the Duke defense did little to stop it. Typical three point shooting nights against Temple and Ohio State still would not have brought victories simply because of the inability to prevent dribble penetration and limit paint touches.

Lastly, if Duke lived by the 3 and the free throw line, we would see more than the standard 4-6 losses per season, it is a philosophy that cannot produce victories at the rate it has. If it did more teams would do it.

Since 1996 Duke has averaged roughly 22 three point attempts per game, the high being 27 attempts in 2000-2001, the low being 15 per game by the 2006-2007 squad.
http://statsheet.com/mcb/beyondthearc/teams/duke

Under Thad Matta, Ohio State has averaged 19 three point attempts per game.
http://statsheet.com/mcb/beyondthearc/teams/ohio-state

How is it again Duke is labeled as being live by the three when teams like Ohio State, Michigan State have attempted nearly as many 3's per game on average over the last 10 years?

How is it again Duke is labeled as being live by the three when teams like Ohio State, Michigan State have attempted nearly as many 3's per game on average over the last 10 years?

We aren't talking about the last ten years. We talking about this year. Through 29 games duke has shot 626 3's. Osu has shot 426 3's and MSU has shot 440 3's. Do you see a difference.

Tried to find Statistical data on points attained by three pointer had to do some fuzzy math.
If my calculations are correct the following percentages come out.

25% of Duke's points come via the 3 pointer.
21% of Baylor's points come by the three.
20% of Kentucky's points

At what percentage does a team become "live by the three"?

These # come from this season btw

Dook scores 79 a game. 8.3 3's a game(so let's say 24 points).

That comes out to 30.4%


Baylor scores 75 and makes 6.9(21 points) = 28%
UK scores 78 and makes 5.6(18 points) = 23.1%

And for shiggles, since you brought up OSU and Sparty..

OSU scores 75 and makes 5(15 points) = 20%
Sparty scores 73 and makes 5.3(15 points) = 20.5%